Bottle counter



June 18, 1963 s. L. GORDON ETAL BOTTLE COUNTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 9. 1960 l l L INVENTORS aim-mun A. GORDbN FIN/VA 4. 4" 0.9471! ATTOR/Vl United States Patent Mich.

Filed Feb. 9, 1960, Ser. No. 7,694 2 Claims. (Cl. 23591) This invention relates to a counter for the opening of bottles.

Frequently in the operation of a soda fountain or bar, it is important that the proprietor be able to keep a record of the number of bottles opened in the course of business. Since it is difiicult for those in charge to make records as they operate, it is the purpose of the present invention to provide an automatic counter which registers each time a bottle is opened.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple device for this purpose which is easily operated by the process of opening a bottle but which is otherwise not readily operated.

It is the purpose also to provide a device which is attractive and which can be mounted adjacent a soda fountain or a bar without taking up much more room than the usual bottle opener.

Other objects and features of the invention relating to details of construction and operation will be apparent in the following description and claims.

Drawings accompany the disclosure and the various views thereof may be briefly described as:

FIGURE 1, a perspective view of the device showing the exterior.

FIGURE. 2, a vertical section through the unit taken on line 22 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 3, a sectional view on line B--3 of FIG- URE 2.

Referring to the drawings:

A mounting base 10, formed of metal or wood, is provided for mounting of the device such as a vertical panel or wall. On the base is a housing unit 12 which is open at the back, this housing unit being screwed on to the base 10 by four corner screws 14. The housing is closed by a back panel 15.

Referring to the sectional veiw, it will be seen that the housing 12 has a frontal upper recess 16 in which is mounted a counter drum 18, this drum having an exposed face portion 29' through which the numbers on the counter may be viewed. The counter also has a shaft 22 on which is a trigger arm 24 having an actuator pin 26. This assembly is held in place by a plate 28 secured by screws '30. The housing also has a furcate element 82 cast into the body to have a slot 34 in which is mounted a pin 36, a lever arm 38 having a long curved upper branch 40 which projects up between the drum '18 and the arm 24 to contact the actuator pin 26. The lower branch or arm 42 of the lever 38 below the pivot 36 projects into a bore 44 which passes through the furcate stud 32 to the outer face of the housing within a longitudinal recess 46. In this opening 44 there operates a pin 48 in contact at the back end with the lever arm 42 and projecting at the forward end into the recess 46.

Around the pivot 36 a U-shaped spring 50 has coiled arms surrounding the pin with extending leg portions 52. These leg portions may be passed through openings 54 3 ,'09 4,Z79 Patented June 18, 1963 in the front plate of the housing to locate them if desired. As shown in FIGURE 3, these legs are passed through these openings. As shown in FIGURE 2, the legs bear against the inside wall of the housing. Mounted on the front side of the housing 12 is a bottle cap remover and actuator element 60 which is composed of a sheet of metal doubled back on itself from a bight portion 62 to form a hook portion 64 and a fastening leaf 66 which runs back and upwardly below the recess 16 is clamped in place by a plate 68 held by screws 70 from the back. This plate 68 can serve as a name plate as well as a clamping plate.

The other leaf of the double seat of metal curves downwardly at to overlie the forward portion of the housing 12 and is formed with a groove 82 which creates a projection rearwardly of the plate to locate the plunger 48. The lower corners of the plate 80 are retained by stops 84 in the housing, and the front plate of the housing 12 is recessed so that the plate 80 can shift to the rear, thus moving the plunger 32. In the embodiment shown in FIGURE 3, the ends of the springs 52 which pass through the openings 54 bear against the plate 80 to urge it outwardly, thus assisting the action of the spring 50 which urges the end 42 of lever 38 outwardly along with the plunger 48.

In the operation of the device, a capped bottle is hooked under the hook portion 64 of the opening device; and, when downward pressure is applied to the bottle, this pressure through the bottle cap is exerted against the plate 80, moving it to the rear in the housing 12 and thus moving the plunger 48 to the rear against the lever portion 42 of the actuating lever '38. The actuating lever is: shifted so that the arm 40 moves against the trigger pin 46 a suflicient distance to register another number on the counter drum 18. Thus the number of bottles opened is automatically recorded to assist in the inventory check of the operation.

We claim:

1. A counter for bottle openings comprising a housing to be mounted on a wall having a front face, a cylindrical counter within said housing having a visible counter dial at the face of said housing, a lever pivoted within said housing having an actuating portion projecting to the front face of said housing and an actuated portion in a position to influence said counter, means to operate said actuating portion of said lever comprising a hook plate mounted on the front face of said housing having a hook portion for catching the edge of a bottle cap and a thrust plate portion extending downwardly from said hook portion to overlie and enclose said actuating portion of said lever, means to mount said hook plate on the face of said housing and to retain said thrust plate to permit rearward thrust of said plate portion toward said housing due to the resilience of said plate, and means on said housing to shield said plate portion against the introduction of any motion blocking element from the face of said housing.

2. A counter for bottle openings which comprises a base housing having a counter drum and exposed dial with an actuating trigger for said drum at one end of said housing, said trigger being mounted on an actuator shaft, a lever for actuating said trigger extending the length of said housing, means at the bottom of said housing for mounting said lever in a position to strike said trigger when actuated, said lever having a short extension below said mount, a plunger adjacent said mounting means extending to the front face of said housing at one end and projecting to said short extension at the other, spring means urging said lever away trom said trigger, and a bottle actuated thrust plate comprising a metallic sheet doubled upon itself to form an overlapping portion in the shape of a hook and two separable portions, the first extending upwardly along and aflixed to the face of the housing to mount the plate, and the second curving downwardly to overlie said plunger on the face of the housing,

4 and means to limit the outward motion of the second plate while permitting inward motion in response to the force applied to the hook to actuate the plunger, lever, and trigger sequentially to cause registering of the bottles opened on said hook.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A COUNTER FOR BOTTLE OPENINGS COMPRISING A HOUSING TO BE MOUNTED ON A WALL HAVING A FRONT FACE, A CYLINDRICAL COUNTER WITHIN SAID HOUSING HAVING A VISIBLE COUNTER DIAL AT THE FACE OF SAID HOUSING, A LEVER PIVOTED WITHIN SAID HOUSING HAVING AN ACTUATING PORTION PROJECTING TO THE FRONT FACE OF SAID HOUSING AND AN ACTUATED PORTION IN A POSITION TO INFLUENCE SAID COUNTER, MEANS TO OPERATE SAID ACTUATING PORTION OF SAID LEVER COMPRISING A HOOK PLATE MOUNTED ON THE FRONT FACE OF SAID HOUSING HAVING A HOOK PORTION FOR CATCHING THE EDGE OF A BOTTLE CAP AND A THRUST PLATE PORTION EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID HOOK PORTION TO OVERLIE AND ENCLOSE SAID ACTUATING PORTION OF SAID LEVER, MEANS TO MOUNT SAID HOOK PLATE ON THE FACE OF SAID HOUSING AND TO RETAIN SAID THRUST PLATE TO PERMIT REARWARD THRUST OF SAID PLATE PORTION TOWARD SAID HOUSING DUE TO THE RESILIENCE OF SAID PLATE, AND MEANS ON SAID HOUSING TO SHIELD SAID PLATE PORTION AGAINST THE INTRODUCTION OF ANY MOTION BLOCKING ELEMENT FROM THE FACE OF SAID HOUSING. 